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Chance for Saina Nehwal to make amends

TNN | Dec 6, 2010, 00:44 IST

After losing badly in Asian Games, Saina Nehwal has a chance to exact revenge over local girl Pui Yin Yip at the Hong Kong Super Series which starts on Monday.

HYDERABAD: A fortnight after losing badly in the Asian Games, Saina Nehwal has a chance to exact revenge over local girl Pui Yin Yip at the Hong Kong Super Series which kicks off at the Queen Ellizabeth Stadium on Monday.
The Indian ace, who is within sniffing distance of achieving the number one ranking, is keen to come up with a good show at the Super Series. Saina is the just 788.8345 points behind world No. 1 Tine Baun of Denmark. A good show here can take Saina to the top spot.

There are three top Chinese players in the draw but Saina is confident of making the most from this tournament. "I am confident of putting up a good show. I want to win this tournament," Saina told TOI on Sunday.

The world No. 2, who has skipped half-a-dozen Super Series tournaments this year, has slipped to 14 in the Super Series rankings and is likely to miss the yearend Super Series finals.

The 20-year-old will open her campaign against Tsk Ka Chan of Hong Kong in the first round and may square up against Yip in the quarterfinals. Yip is ranked No.10 in the world.

The Asiad defeat still rankles. "She is a very good player and has improved a lot in the last few months. I have to produce my best against her," she said.

The biggest challenge for the Indian would be the semifinals where she is likely to face Jiang Yanjiao of China. Though ranked 18th in the world, Yanjiao won the prestigious China Super Series on Sunday beating compatriot Shixian Wang in the final.

The other two Indians in the fray Parupalli Kashyap and Arvind Bhatt may not progress beyond the second round in men's singles. Both players run into tough opponents in the second round. While Kashyap may face world champion Chen Jin of China, Indonesia's former world and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat would be waiting for Bhatt.

Chief coach P Gopichand says that Saina has a great chance of winning. "She has a comparatively easy draw here. Though she did not fare well at the Asian Games, Saina can match the Chinese. I am confident that she would prevail over them at Hong Kong," Gopi said.

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